Replies to post #20875 on Asus' FREE Speech Money Club (ASUS)

[lakedweller2]

I've paid more taxes into those programs than I can get back...particularly if I get nothing. Twenty years in the miitary and 20 years with the state. 40 years of getting my teeth kicked in day after day...and they say all the money is gone. Well I hope stemcell can keep me alive another 50 years so I can get the tomatoes growing good out back.

[skono4]

Like I said, where is it?
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I don't think you can sum it up very generally. You have to go down the list I made and work through the particulars. We're all different, aren't we?

Government has not put aside monies to pay for our retired workforce either in Social Security or all their direct employees. But those people will get paid retirements of some sort. Corporations have typically abused a very generous system that allowed them to assume incredible gains year after year. So they're fucked but again, there are folks who will make out quite well. Some unions are in similar positions as the corporations. Others are in better shape for exposing their members to less risk. My wife will depend on the California State Teacher's Retirement and I'm affiliated with the IBPAT. Both pension funds are down but not out. 401ks would run the most extremes depending on where each guy or gal decided to throw the funds. That's going to be the same typically as the individual investor using mutual funds. If the life insurance companies remain solvent all those fixed annuities and whole life policies will turn out to be some of the better choices after all. We thought those were sucker bets for the customers. Now we're more worried if the insurance company can cover it's costs on the payout. Some people I know who went heavy into real estate did it with a very close eye on the rental market rather than flipping out. They have good tenants and solid returns on investment. They're going to make out like bandits. Flipping was for degenerate gamblers---but we knew that all along. Lastly, you get down to the most basic wealth that each family has, the home, it's possessions and whatever savings they've scraped up over a lifetime.

Add it all up and it's trillions and trillions of dollars. So we'll all be living with less as you predict. It's essentially about an economic pie that isn't growing and won't grow soon. I agree with you about the time frame where this "recession" lasts decades and not quarters or years. I'm still doubtful though that this rises to "catastrophe" across the board. I'm generally hopeful that it's just going to seem like a catastrophe after living so far beyond our means for such an extended period. Maybe it's for the best.